Frustrated Rosscarbery residents want new pipes to end outages

RESIDENTS living near Cahermore Cross in Rosscarbery were left with no water twice last week, adding to the long list of water outages experienced by the community over many years.

The outages are despite major upgrades being carried out to the network in their area in 2023, according to Social Democrats local election candidate Isobel Towse.

‘The frustrated locals have reported 21 outages since the beginning of 2023, and at least twelve of these have occurred since the works were completed last July, with some lasting over 24 hours with no notice given,’ said Isobel.

A neighbourhood WhatsApp group was set up in 2018 following years of major disruptions, dedicated solely to updating each other on lost water pressure and checking the website for updates on the outages, she explained.

‘It has been a huge inconvenience for the community. I was told that one farmer in the area was forced to put a well in at his own cost, because he couldn’t rely on mains water to fill the water troughs for his cattle,’ said Ms Towse.

‘Another resident told me that she has to handwash her clothes when the washing machine won’t complete a cycle because the water pressure is too low. The community are rightly exasperated.

Isobel met with the community on Sunday and told them her party leader Holly Cairns TD has been in touch with Uisce Éireann. ‘We are awaiting an explanation as to why there has been little improvement to water supply since works were carried out last summer,’ she said.

The community wants Uisce Éireann to prioritise replacing pipes in the area to eliminate the unplanned outages. TD Christopher O’Sullivan and local elction candidate Pádraig O Reilly have both requested clarity from Uisce Éireann on the issue.